Bob Cassidy

(1949 - )

Born in Kearny, New Jersey. Professional stage mentalist, magician, speaker and author of several (e)books.

In 1978, with fellow mentalists Tony Raven, Scott Gordon, Mary Lynn, and Dian Buelmeier, co-founded the Psychic Entertainers Association (P.E.A.), which has since become mentalism's primary international professional society.

Editor of Vibrations, newsletter of the P.E.A., from 1978 - 1981, and 1984.

Q and A 2000: A very strong sealed message reading routine employing several methods each one to disguise the other methods used.

The Medium's envelope test: This is basically Bob's own "Test of the White Dwarf" combined with George Kaplan's original preparation of the envelopes.

A Remote Peek: Bob originally sold this with his limited edition peek wallet which is no longer available. However, it may be performed with any Jaks style peek wallet, or, if you prefer, a slit pay-style manila envelope.

Bob has often referred to the Question and Answer Act as a major effect in mentalism. (“Audience reading”, perhaps, is a more accurate description of the act, since many presentations focus on the revelation of information apparently unknown to the performer – the Sunshine-Dunninger-Kreskin approach – rather than the actual answering of questions.) The effect is major since it involves, or potentially involves, everyone in the audience as opposed to minor effects, which involve only one or a few volunteers, and are sometimes referred...

Wolf Messing (1899 -1974) is often said to have been the most talented mind reader in the world. A native of Poland, Messing moved to Russia just prior to the outbreak of World War II. His decision to emigrate followed a performance, during which he predicted that Germany would be defeated and Hitler would die if Poland were invaded. Hitler, a devout believer in psychic phenomena, showed his appreciation for Messing's psychic gifts by placing a bounty of 200,000 marks on his head. After the war he worked for many years as a performer, and it has been suggested that he was one of Josef Stalin's...

Warning: Performing a Bullet Catch or Russian Roulette type of effect is extremely dangerous. Several people have died attempting such stunts. If you use any information from this ebook you are voluntarily and free willingly taking on any liability and risks to your, your helper's and your audience's well being.

It is one thing to read about such stunts. It is entirely different to actually do them. If you want our advice: Don't do them!

Bob Cassidy is a professional performer who has practiced and performed these type of effects and stunts for many years. In this ebook he shares his advice...

Effect: The two “Owl” disks are shown and their meaning explained. The mentalist
next exhibits the “Hand” disk with the darkened edge and the sticker on the back. The
spectator is asked to write a number, a short word, or a small picture on the back of the
“hand” disk (on the sticker). This is done while the performer’s back is turned. The
“hand” disk is turned face down, hiding the writing, and the disk is sandwiched between
the face-up owls. (The darkened edged of the “hand” disk subtly proves that the “hand”
disk remains...

You will learn how to prepare and gimmick two different kinds of bottles which allow wonderful lie detector and murder mystery effects or which can be used as adjunct in a one on one 'psychic reading.' With typical Cassidy genius one bottle allows you to glimpse colored marbles dropped in and the other bottle allows you to force a certain color of marble dispensed from the bottle. This opens the possibility for many routines. Bob describes two.

This was Bob Cassidy's first publication and appeared in 1977 as the second supplement to Invocation. You will find a great photo of a very young Bob Cassidy from 1973. The ebook is a reflection of who Bob was way back then. It contains the seeds of the ideas that gradually evolved into the act he presents today. A real treat for all Cassidy fans and anybody interested in mentalism.

Bob Cassidy, one of the most respected and influential mentalists of our time, turns his attention to the topic of the seance and will show you just how simple it is to perform! In fact, most everything you need is contained within this ebook. Plus you get a recorded teleseminar that Michael Weber hosts where Bob talks about seances. On top of this you get the exclusive post-seminar notes and a copy of Behind the scense with the mediums as PDF.

Bob Cassidy teaches a three part routine where each part's method cancels the other to leave the audience without a clue to how this is possible. One of the methods used is an adaptation of a Royal Heath idea. Thus the name of this ebook. The methods are very general and can be adopted to many personalized and customized routines.

THE ONLY VERSION OF THE CLASSIC PUZZLE EFFECT THAT APPEARS TO BE A NEAR TEST CONDITIONS IMPOSSIBILITY.

The method used in Puzzled is completely original with Bob Cassidy. It is based on an "out-of-left-field logical disconnect" that will positively fool anyone who sees it.

The premise of the effect was created by the late English mentalist, Romark, back in the 1970's. A few years ago there was a minor hissy fit in the magic world about the creation and ownership of a jigsaw puzzle effect involving an image of the Mona Lisa. (But apart from the fact that the effect used a jigsawed version...

URV is a remote viewing presentation involving complete audience participation. In a series of tests replicating actual remote viewing experiments the audience is able, under what appear to be strictly controlled conditions, to perform amazing accurate remote viewings of hidden target photographs.

Such effects are rare in mentalism and have an extremely powerful impact. They not only provide a unique experience for any intelligent audience but serve to greatly enhance the mentalist's credibility.

Two versions of the routine are described. One is designed for use with a single participant...

The Question Answering Act - or "Audience Reading" as it is more commonly called today - has always been the major effect in mentalism. Q&A, while arguably the most powerful and memorable effect in mentalism, is rarely seen today because it does not fit into the "body language/ perceptionist" persona and style - its only explanations would appear to be pure mind reading or, as it was originally presented, communication with the spirits.

Here, in this ebook for the experienced mentalist - is a complete collection of original modern methods and, more importantly - presentations - for this classic...

The outstanding success of the historic Artful Mentalism Seminar convinced Bob Cassidy to do another similar seminar covering different topics. Michael Weber is again the host and skilfully keeps the discussion focused and informative. If you could not attend the live seminar you can now own and listen to the entire 2 hour and 20 minute recording plus receive two ebooks.

A complete history of what Bob believes to be the greatest effect in mentalism, including all of the variations and methods developed over the years.

4th Dimensional Telepathy is a complete act in and of itself. Whereas the original methods utilized forces, impression devices, etc., the methods revealed herein do not. All of the spectators' selections are absolutely free.

The Basic Effect

In all of the versions described in this ebook, the effect of Fourth Dimensional Telepathy is the same or very nearly so. Only in Bob's first variant, "Ultimate Fourth Dimensional Telepathy" did he...

In 1981 Al Mann devised a billet tear he called the "Mag-Eye" move. He enthusiastically demonstrated it for Bob Cassidy and gave him a copy of the manuscript, Phanta Graphs in which he had first described it.

Some time later, after playing around with the move, Bob devised a substantially different approach and a handling that allowed secret access to a much larger area of the billet. Bob also gave Al some of his ideas regarding the proper type of paper that had to be used to insure that the move worked smoothly as well as a presentational gambit that justified the use of a pre-folded billet.

". . . I have found most uses of billets that I've seen to be painful exercises in self-deception on the part of the performer, as to what the audience finds convincing or entertaining. But when I saw Bob Cassidy do his billet routine for an audience of more than a thousand, those silly bits of paper were reduced to virtual non-entities. By the time the routine reached its conclusion he was on stage, standing back-to-back with a spectator, engaged in what was apparently a full scale drawing duplication - with no billets or envelopes anywhere in sight or awareness." - Jamie Ian Swiss, Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine, January 2005

From the introduction: "Seemingly impromptu mental effects are among the
strongest you can do. The apparent lack of preparation is what makes them seem real. But never forget that it is the illusion of impromptu, and not its reality, that gives such effects their impact."

"Impromptu" does not mean unprepared, nor does it refer to the ridiculous notion held by many that to be truly impromptu the effect must be something you can do anywhere, anytime, even if you happen to be totally naked.

Impromptu, more sensibly, refers to the effect on your audience. The effect should either SEEM to...

As far as I'm concerned, sleight of hand (or any other artifice for that matter) has but one purpose - to convincingly establish a false premise, which I believe to be the cornerstone of all effective illusion and deception. The more convincingly that premise is established, the more amazing the resulting effect will appear to be.

The subtleties and psychological approaches of mentalism can, when augmented by sleight of hand, provide a directness and clarity of effect that is too often lacking in mental routines. The fact that sleights are avoided by many performers...

Long unavailable, The Invisible Mirror is a large multimedia ebook (including four RealMedia video clips) featuring an ingenious method - illustrated on video - for obtaining a spectator's hidden thoughts and for apparently predicting the future.

It also contains something you will never see anywhere else - an excerpt of a live performance - in a biker bar - by Dr. Bob!

The Invisible Mirror is a utilitarian technique with unlimited capabilities. Not only is the technique direct and convincing, it is easy and actually fun to do.

Most cyclical stacks are based on either mathematical progressions (Si Stebbins) or nonsense rhymes (“Eight Kings” and John Mulholland’'s “Hungry Jackass.”) While memorized stacks, such as the Nikola explained in Encyclopedia of Card Tricks, allow for the fastest determination of a cards position in the pack, performers who don'’t use the set-up generally seem to avoid the memory route. The mathematical systems, which serve as substitutes for memory, can sometimes be difficult in performance situations. Furthermore, many of the mathematical formulas only allow you to determine the position of a given card, and not...

In the early 1970’s, at the "dawning of the Age of Aquarius," a young
Israeli named Uri Geller attracted worldwide attention with his "psychic" abilities. While he demonstrated several paranormal skills, it was his "psychokinetic" ability to bend silverware, borrowed keys, and nails that set him apart from other "New Age" psychics. In the years that followed many mentalists and magicians added "metal bending" routines to their repertoires, and many sleights and gimmicks have been devised to facilitate the effect.

"The Man at the Crossroads" is a close-up routine based on a uniquely American form of folk magic known as "hoodoo". Sometimes used as a synonym for Voodoo (a term related to the Dahomean word for spirit, vodun, and the more generalized West African juju), "hoodoo" technically refers to magical practices sometimes known as "conjure" - a hybrid of African and European beliefs nowadays far removed from their original West African religious roots - and is comprised of complex magical practices as well as simple medicinal procedures. (Practitioners, however, usually refer to the latter as "signs"...

The title is apt. This ebook contains three completely inexplicable mental effects: "Quarterforce", "Boxed Thought", and "The Impossible Switch".

In Quarterforce a pack of cards is fanned out before a spectator. There are no duplicates or specially printed cards. The spectator simply thinks of one and the mentalist names it. That's it and it's that clean. Mentalism doesn't get any bolder or more powerful than this.

Boxed Thought is a completely routined demonstration of telepathy and clairvoyance and The Impossible Switch is just that - a billet move so clean and simple it is never detected.
...

Mind Burners - illustrated with color photographs and videos of each critical move, features two completely routined performance pieces from Bob's own working repertoire. "The Manchurian Gambit" is a demonstration of "psychic brainwashing", based on Richard Condon's novel and John Frankenheimer's 1962 film classic, "The Manchurian Candidate". An audience member, completely unaware of what he or she is doing, follows the mentalist's psychic commands. Not only completely amazing, this is one of the funniest and most memorable routines Bob has ever performed.

Near the end of the 19th century - a time believed by many to be the birth of a "New Age"- presentations of mediumship and other so-called psychic phenomena had already become standard theatrical attractions. Samri Baldwin ("The Only Real and Original White Mahatma") had long since developed the one-ahead based question answering act, and the secret writing techniques of Henry Slade and other early mediums had become standard items in the repertoires of many conjurors. Some engaged in actual and pseudo exposures of mediums and psychics, while others, recognizing the power of such presentations,...

This ebook consists of a PDF and five WMV videos demonstrating the techniques. Bob also included his personal brainstorming notes, much of which is incomprehensible, but it allows you a unique peak into this creative mind and might help you develop and personalize your own routines.

Doctor Crow's Party Piece

Pure Mentalism

Technique #1 - Hand to Hand with a Pen

Technique #2 The Switch, Umbrella Move and Read covered by business card packet.

Features "The Elementulum", "Bottled", "Dunningered", and "The Cooperative Almanac" - four completely routined original performance pieces.

The Elementulum is a pendulum routine that is visually stunning.

Bottled is among the rarest of mental effects - it is performed on a billiard or pool table! A spectator shuffles a pack of cards and scatters them face down all over a pool table. Pool cues are stood upright in each of the six pockets on the table to prevent any balls from being sunk during the effect.

The performer writes a prediction which is placed in full view. The balls are...

Four completely scripted original and entertaining routines designed to demonstrate your mental abilities under conditions that apparently preclude the use of trickery or fraud. In addition to the routines is a complete analysis of the psychology underlying "Brain Buster" and "test conditions" effects.

Featuring:

Time Stop - This miracle is performed with any unprepared borrowed watch that has a second hand. There are no magnets or gimmicks of any kind required. The effect is totally impromptu.

This is a PDF plus five Real Media video clips demonstrating the moves and handling. Bob works with black cards and black tickets, a nail writer, a fiendishly gimmicked dictionary, a voodoo doll, black clipboards and index cards.

He mixes and matches methods where he finds them most appropriately. A move here, a clever use of ordinary props there and a gimmicked item when the effect calls for it.

Mind Explosions is about closers, the routines which will leave your audience laughing, crying, awestruck, applauding, or sleeping. The two routines, "The Number of the Beast", and "Checkmate" begin as traditional, albeit very impressive, demonstrations of lightning calculation and memory. Both end with an unexpected synchronistic twist that leaves audiences stunned.

If you have ever performed the super memory effect or "The Knight's Tour", you already know that they are classic effects that are effective before any intelligent audience. In Mind Explosions you will learn a method of performing...

Bob wrote: "Too many of the secrets of our art have become useless because of widespread exposure in the media. It is only via limited releases that I feel I can contribute to the art while not unwittingly prostituting it."

Since Lybrary purchased the copyrights to this ebook we will honor the limited edition to protect past and future customers.

Effect:

A spectator writes a word, a question, or draws a picture on a card-stock billet. (No impression device is used and the mentalist's back may be turned while the spectator writes her thought.) She drops the billet into an ordinary sugar...

One of the most convincing remote viewing routines yet devised. May be performed any time at any place. It is an improvement of Bob's earlier "The Moleskine Divination". It does not need the Royal Heath’s classic “"Dye-ciphering Dice”".

This is a complete presentation for corporate and professional groups - performance rights included.

It's no secret that public and keynote speaking is one of the most lucrative markets for the skilled mentalist. Instead of earning $500 to $1500 for a typical program, the speaker generally makes ten times that. Many mentalists, though, feel a bit awkward with the idea of wrapping a piece of entertainment up as a serious lecture. Probably because of the natural feeling that's it's just a bit dishonest to use mentalism as a means of "selling" pop psychology or spurious science.

A complete divination routine based on a unique combination of Eastern and Western methods of geomancy. An excellent addition to straight cold reading as it provides specific details about the sitter that would apparently be impossible for anyone to know.

Bob describes his impossible envelope switch which he adopted from a deck switch he saw Gene Maze perform. A WMV video of Bob performing and explaining the switch is included with the files you are downloading.

This has always been one of Bob's most popular effects among the mentalists who have seen him perform it. This ebook comes complete with ready-to-print templates that will enable you to assemble the "Remote Viewing Testing Book" from ordinary 3x5 blank index cards.

The testing book contains lists and geographical coordinates of hundreds of locations throughout the world. Without writing anything down a committee of spectators selects any of locations to test the mentalist's remote viewing abilities. The performer is able to describe, in exact detail, the selected location. There are no...

He looks beyond the appearances and facades that disguise reality and finds the truth. He is The Schattenjaeger - the hunter of shadows - and he invites you to join him.

Partial Contents include:

Vision Quest - A spectator thinks of the name of a dead celebrity and gazes into a glass of water flanked by two candles. Suddenly, a ghostly image of the celebrity appears below the surface of the liquid and peers upward at the volunteer.

The Jam Readings - A Jazz Q and A routine based on a unique and virtually self-working mass billet switch. The Schattenjaeger observes, "If they could see...

Rules are meant to be followed - most of the time. The Heresies are those effects that break every rule of mentalism and become even more powerful for it. Perhaps it's just the contrast - but as you will discover in this exclusive ebook - it's much, much more.

"The Dream" is a routine that is best performed before smaller audiences or in an impromptu setting. The key principles, though, have great utilitarian value and should find use in many of your presentations.

The basic idea evolved from an old card routine by Stewart Judah. [Don't go away yet, the finished routine can hardly be considered a "card trick".] It was the type of effect that has fallen out of fashion lately due to the amount of dealing and counting involved. It struck Bob, though,
that the dealing was acceptable if the effect was presented as a type of card game. But while the card game presentation was natural and deceptive, it was hardly earth shaking and...

A spectator loads a dart into a regulation pellet/dart pistol and fires it at a target ten feet away. The performer is blindfolded and stands in front of the target. He rolls up his right sleeve and puts his open right hand (palm toward the spectator) directly in front of his face.

On the count of three, the spectator fires the pistol at the performer's open (and clearly empty) hand. The performer's hand clenches shut and is slowly opened to reveal the dart. At no time does his hand move from its position in front of his body, nor is it approached by the other hand.

A unique effect. The performer produces - or borrows - a crossword puzzle magazine of the type commonly found in any supermarket. A spectator opens it anywhere and concentrates on any clue. The mentalist not only reveals the clue, but its definition as well. Unlike any other crossword effect you may have seen - and completely unbelievable!

Twenty years have passed since Bob wrote The Art of Mentalism. He was thirty-four years old at the time. While he is pleased that the book has been well received over the years, much of what he wrote no longer
accurately reflects his approach to the art.

In The Art of Mentalism 2 (1995), he focused primarily on the presentation of a complete mental act. In the present volume, Bob gives you effects and essays that focus on the theoretical basis of successful mentalism.

Joseph Dunninger has often been credited with saying. "Every time you add a prop to your act your price goes down." His reasoning should be obvious - every additional prop takes the illusion one step away from what "real mind reading" would look like. And, as Bob has noted many times in his previous ebooks, every additional type of mentalism you demonstrate (apparent telepathy, precognition, psychokinesis, clairvoyance, etc.) also detracts from the overall illusion.

Recently a "mentalist" challenged Bob on this point: "How entertaining is it to demonstrate the same ability over and over again? It is much...

The companion volume to Staging It, this exclusive ebook for mentalists is devoted to audience handling. Bob has probably worked for the most difficult audiences in the world and this ebook reveals the techniques he has used that have enabled him to be successful in virtually any conceivable venue.

This, Bob believes, is among the ebooks he has written that he considers most important for those looking to succeed in the world of professional psychic entertainment.

The Photon Phenomenon - A low cost way to achieve an impressive visual effect. This is typical Cassidy brilliance. Imagine. You are on stage and have just asked the audience to concentrate on their thoughts. The houselights dim and, suddenly, your face is illuminated in an eerie glow. No doubt it is effective showmanship, but you would normally assume that a special lighting effect like this requires, well, special lighting. It doesn’t.

Dark Impressions - Those of you who are familiar with Bob's previous writings are well acquainted...

One of the inherent difficulties in presenting effective mentalism is that it generally lacks the element of surprise. The performer states that he will read a thought and proceeds to do so. He says he will predict tomorrow’s headlines and he does. Many would-be mentalists infallibly demonstrate so many different alleged mental powers that the element of believability is lacking as well.

By applying the "Side Effects" principle, the element of surprise is returned to the art and variety is introduced into a performance without sacrificing believability. Bob's good friend Ross Johnson, one...

There is no argument about the dilemma faced by many newcomers to mentalism. Are mental effects best presented as natural phenomena of the mind, or as examples of rare paranormal or supernatural abilities?

Most of today's mentalists use the "mental skill" as opposed to the "psychic gift" approach, but only rarely are they particularly consistent about it. Even Joseph Dunninger, the pre-eminent mentalist of the twentieth century, sometimes made conflicting claims. While he stated that his thought reading skills were "scientific" and not those of a fortune-teller or psychic, his promotional...

The "Swami Gimmick", aka "Nail Writer", "Thumb Writer", "Ghost Writer",
"Medium's Secret Device", et al, has often been referred to as one of the
most useful secret devices in mentalism. And it is - provided, of course, that no one knows the mentalist is using one.

While the existence of the Swami may be widely known, very few performers actually use one on a regular basis and even fewer have truly mastered the device. Used properly, even those who have heard of a nail writer (or "that little piece of lead under the thumbnail"), will have no idea that the mentalist is using one.